Many central hub airports for commercial airline carriers suffer from high traffic and runway congestion. There has been an increasing interest in short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft as a possible means for alleviating airport congestion. Because STOL aircraft can take advantage of the alternate shorter runways that generally coexist alongside longer counterpart runways, STOL aircraft can help combat airport congestion. Not only will STOL aircraft allow for an increased number of flights from congested airports, they will also increase the number of accessible airports.
Although existing STOL aircraft have worked well for its intended purposes including allowing shorter field operations, STOL is usually associated with an increased operational cost to the aircraft operator. For example, while upper surface blowing (USB) is an effective technique used to generate the lift required for STOL operations, USB has a tendency to decrease profitability due to a decreased propulsive efficiency caused by the required engine installations.